THE COMMUNIST Official Organ of the Communist Party of America.
SECTION OF THE THIRD COMMUNIST INTERNATIONAL PRICE CENTS Vol. II, 17.
FEBRUARY 1st, 1921.
The Burning Question of Unity The splitting the We must state right in the beginning program reveals their position on this ques the trade and industrial unions at its Septthat the Communist Party objected to unity tion. It is through revolutionary mass action ember ist Convention.
with the leaders of the fornier of the working class that the power of the The COMMUNIST LABOR PARTY, as well as with the LEADERS of the pre capitalist state will be destroyed and the was launched under the direct influence of sent so called United Communist Party, for prolctarian government estallished. the syndicalist elements at its first convenwe consider these leaders to be centrists who intend to combine two incompatible definition of mass action distorts the real ing of the vital importance of a proletarian The program of the in its tion in Chicago, and had no clear understand.
teachings. Communism and Syndicalism meaning of this tactic; it is not in keep political party nor of its role in the prolet(sometimes called in this country industrialing with the actual facts. Mass action of the arian revolution. All the leaders of the ism. working class is program adopted at the Second provoked by the dissatisfaction of the pro mic movement of the working class. They a spontaneous act, usually laid more stress upon the purely econo Convention of the Communist Party of Am.
letarian masses with their economic condi upheld the as against the of in its attitude toward trade and industrial tions, or as a result of an economic crisis According to the leaders of the Commununions is fully in keeping with the position usually culminating in a sharpening of the ist Labor Party a political party was of less taken on this question by the Second World class antagonism and class war. Spontane importance than the economic organizations Congress of the Coininunist International.
ous pass action of the working masses of the working class in their struggle against The United Communist Party at its first convention adopted a semi syndicalist, is of no valuc, if it is not backed, directed len of a revolutionary character as such the capitalist class and the capitalist state.
In spite of the fact that the şemi opportunist program. The attitude of aud controlled by the most class conscious fomally and in words recognized the necesthe toward the old reactionary part of the proletariat, e. if it is not direct sity of the dictatorship of the proletariat, it trade unions was thorouglily discussed at ed and controlled by the proletarian van had no clear conception of the importance the 2nd Congress of the The Congress guard, the Communist Party. The Soviets of the role of the political party of the condemned this attitude of the Russia, after the March revolution, were working class before and during the revoluand declared that the policy of deliberately revolutionary in their character, BUT of would endanger WHILE THEY WERE LED BY THE tical power by the proletariat, and at the tionary period before the conquest of polithe Communist movement in America by MENSHEVIKI AND THE SOCIAL RE time of and after the seizure of state power isolating it from the organized labor move VOLUTIONISTS, e. BY THE YELLOW by the workers.
ment as a whole.
SOCIAL PATRIOTS AND CENTRISTS, This policy of the was severly THEY HAD NO INFLUENCE AND ist Party some fcw syndicalist elements joinAt the first convention of the Communcriticized by both Karl Radek and Zinovicv WERE DEVOID OF POWER. They at ed it through misunderstanding; they ex.
who ridiculed these tactics, quoting directly tained this power and influence only when ercised a slight influence in the shaping of from the program, and refusing to the leadership of the Soviets came into the make any compromise on this question. hands of the Bolsheviki or Communis. The toward the trade unions vague and indeour first program thus making our attitude There was another vital question upon mighty power of the Soviets in Russia is finite. hase syndicalist clements of the Damwhich the Cominunist Party could not agrec due to the influence of the proletarian vanwith the centrist leaders of the guard in their midst.
on and Caxton type showed themselves in their true colors at the time when differences the question of propagating to the masses The destruction of the capitalist state first arose in the of our party last the necessity of armed insurrection and civil and the establishment of the prolctarian dic year. The most essential differences between war for the purpose of overthrowing the tatorship in the form of Soviet government the minority and majority of the capitalist state. The centrist leaders of the will be carried out by means of revolutionary of the of consisted in the misconU do not and did not deny the necesmass action of the working class under the ception of the so called minority of the dissity for armed insurrection, but like other leadership and control of the proletarian tinction between the masses and the party.
of the meaning and content of armed insuur wanguarda ise of a disciplined, mighty. Com. According to the opinions of the minority: PARTY and CLASS are identical.
rection. According to the written statement never be built up by the leaders of the Damon and Caxton and kindred eleof the theoreticians, the proletariat with their non communist misconcep nents in the Communist Party were imbued should only resort to force of arms in the tions and their contrist tendencies.
case of self defense or self protection. This with opportunist and syndicalist ideas which These are briefly the essential points obscured in their minds the iniportance of theory will not hold water and entirely conwhich have separated the Communist Party the role of the political party before, during, tradicts the actual istorical facts based upon and the up to the Second Congress and after the conquest of state power by the the experience of at least two proletarian the Communist International. It is obvi proletariat. On the other hand, Damon, Caxrevolutions.
ous that these differences are of vital import ton and Co. had menshevik and opportunist The use of armed force thus should be ance. These two parties disagreed in their tendencies which appeared in their attitude considered, not only as a means of defense attitude toward trade and industrial unions. toward mass action and the question of apnas proposed by the contrist leaders of the At the conventions in Chicago both the ed insurrection. but also as a method of offense and the suffered from the After DAMON, CAXTON, Co. left at the right moment during an economic or infantile sickness of left communism as political crisis. and in this tactic the workour party and united with their Siamese twin Lenin aptly called it. Both partics insisted brothers, the COMMUNIST LABOR PARing class in the United States must be conthat the F. of and similar unions must stantly and consistently educated as a vital TY, thereby artificially creating the UNITbe split up and that in their place should ED COMMUNIST PARTY. The program part of communist propaganda.
The leaders of the UCP. go further Le organized brand new revolutionary unin their effort to cinasculate and to distortions built on an industrial basis. But the posed of elements that never should have the meaning and to minimize the importance Communist Party of America at its first been separated, has been sufficiently critice convention in Chicago, definitely and clearly ized in this article. The syndicalist ideology of this principle of communist tactics. The declare in their program, that; explained the role and the importance of the prevails throughout it, while at the same for armed insurrection as the final form of party as distinct from the working class as the worst kind mass action by which the workers shall con whole it clearly presented the role of the Damon, Caxton and Co. in spite of all quer the state power and cstablish the pro Comunist Party as the leading and direct their machinations did not succeed in their letarian dictatorship.
ing force in the prolctarian mass action.
Party. Thus the leaders of the in both The Program, adopted by the Communist since only an insignificant number of cowy cases ospone the 11se of arined force inwith absolute clearness, that the political pointed in their attempt to destroy the only Dissadefinitely. Their policy, in this respect, ce working consistent and true proletarian party the minds us of the action of the Mensheviki, party must be the guide of the Conmunist Party of America and aware countries, who 115 all their efforts to thwart isolate itself from the masses if it does not that the UNITION Comunist Party had the opportunists and centrists of all the masses, that the Communist Party must nog wish to be more than a pitiful political sect.
the approach of the social revolution, miserably failed to unite the communist eleIn contradiction to this otherwisc clcar ments in this country upon their non comLet us now analyze the attitude of the function as a political munist program, Dainon, Caxion, Holt, Centrict leaders of the toward the conception of its jarty of the working class, the Communist co. began to scheme and to adopt other question of mass action.
measures to break the of The following paragraph of the Iarly was inconsistent in its attitude toward